``It usually takes me awhile to get going, and even though I walked the first guy [Joey Cora] and Rodriguez singled, I felt I had good stuff,'' Gordon said. ``My stride was a little long, but I corrected that.''

After that, the knees of right- handed batters often buckled against the curves and batters seldom hit the fastballs of Gordon (1-1, 2.75 ERA). He retired 19 of the final 22 batters he faced.

``Everything was working for him,'' said Martinez, who was 0-for- 3 against Gordon. ``I thought we had a chance to get something going in the first because after that we didn't do much at all.''

The Mariners' run came in the second when Darren Bragg drifted to right-center on Sorrento's fly. The ball bounced off the heel of Bragg's glove, allowing Sorrento to reach second. Dan Wilson, the next batter, singled him in.

The Red Sox, who ended a three- game losing streak, scored in the first on Troy O'Leary's two-out single to right that brought home Nomar Garciaparra, who had opened with a double to left-center. O'Leary batted cleanup for Reggie Jefferson (pulled left quadriceps). Scott Hatteberg replaced Jefferson at DH.

Tim Naehring's grand slam in the third off Scott Sanders (0-3, 10.20) provided Gordon all the support he would need. Mo Vaughn followed a Garciaparra single with a two-out single to right. O'Leary walked on four pitches. Naehring then lined a 1-and-1 hanging slider into the left field screen for his fourth homer this season and second career grand slam. His first was against the Milwaukee Brewers June 9, 1996.

``The slider started at me, then just slid nice, right over the plate,'' Naehring said. ``I knew I'd get at least one or two runs in with it. I was just hoping it would keep on rising to make the net.''

Wil Cordero led off the fourth with his third homer to put the Red Sox ahead, 6-1. It was significant because it hit one of the three 20- foot Coca-Cola plastic bottles attached halfway up the light tower in left field. It was worth $1,000 to the Jimmy Fund, a donation Coca-Cola will provide this year for each homer hit off one of its signs.

Mike Stanley, pinch hitting for Hatteburg, lined a run-scoring double in the fifth to increase the lead to 7-1.

``It seemed like all our games before have been real close ones,'' Cordero said. ``It was nice to get out with a decent lead like that, especially with a team as strong as the Mariners. And with the way `Flash' was going, we had a good feeling.''

Gordon struck out six and walked one. Heathcliff Slocumb pitched the ninth.

Consider how Buhner fared against him. He struck out looking at a curve in the second, tapped into a 1-4-3 double play in the fourth and struck out swinging on a curve in the seventh.

``I've seen guys in both leagues and objectively speaking, Gordon has one of the best curves in baseball,'' said Red Sox pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, who was Montreal Expos pitching coach in 1992-96. ``When that's working, his fastball is even more sneaky fast than ever.''

Said Naehring: ``With the loss of Roger Clemens, Flash has picked us up. It's a real positive sign when he shuts down a potent lineup like the Mariners can throw at you.''